A huge search to find two swimmers who went missing in the sea at Weston was called off on Wednesday afternoon (June 24th).
No sign of the swimmers has been found, despite extensive searches of the coastline by Burnham’s Coastguards, and lifeboat and hovercraft crews.
An RAF helicopter also joined in the rescue operation overnight after the two men were reported to be missing at around 9pm on Tuesday.
The swimmers, both in their 30s, had been spotted struggling in the water after getting into the water in their boxer shorts near Birnbeck Pier.
The initial call to the Coastguard was made just after 9pm, and by 9.13pm the two men were believed to have been swept half a mile offshore and were heard still shouting for help.
As sunlight faded, two flares were fired from the beach by the Coastguard in an effort to illuminate the scene.
Burnham Coastguard Station Officer Steve Bird told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “The men had entered the water while their girlfriends remained on the beach. Screams of help had been heard from the water shortly before the pair went missing.”
Both Burnham’s lifeboats were launched at around midnight to join the search but no sign of the missing men was found and the operation was scaled back at 3am.
The search for the pair resumed at first light on Wednesday (June 24th) and both BARB’s hovercrafts joined the search in the afternoon alongside the two Burnham lifeboats.
Mr Bird said: “Every effort was made to find the swimmers. We have conducted as thorough a search as possible.”
RELATED LINKS:
Coastguard website for Burnham-On-Sea
Hovercraft website for Burnham-On-Sea
Lifeboats website for Burnham-On-Sea
